Salted Dolce De Leche Thumbprint Cookies

This decadent cookie is slightly sweet with creamy homemade dulce, buttery cashew dough and finished with flakey sea salt for an added pop of flavor. It covers all the bases for a sweet, crunchy, buttery, salty dessert that is sure to be a crowd pleaser.  

  • Easy
  • 30 mins
  • 20 servings
Top view of six salted dolce de leche cookies on a small brass pan with a cooling rack.Natural Baker's Extract. Surrounding the brass pan is a spoonful of homemade dolce de leche, a green, blue, and red towel, and a pinch bowl with salt.
Top angle photo of a stack of dolce de leche thumbprint cookies on a pink plate. Surrounding them is a silver spoon with fresh dolce de leche, a green with wooden handle spatula, a pink, green, and blue towel, and a green plant. Angle shot of a hand sprinkling flaky salt on top of a stack of dolce de leche thumbprint cookies. The cookies are are stacked on a pink plate. In the background is a green plant in a marble patterned pot. There's a spoon of dolce de leche. In the foreground is a spatula and towel.
Ingredients
  • 1- 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
  • 1 ½ cup/180 g All-purpose flour
  • 1 cup/113 g unsalted cashews
  • 1/3 cup/66 g granulated sugar
  • 1/3 cup/71 g brown sugar
  • 1 cup/226 g unsalted butter, cubed
  • ½ tsp/3g kosher salt
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • 1 tsp/5 g Rodelle Baker’s Extract
  • Flaky salt for garnish
Uses
Directions
  1. Set up a saucepan with water and a can of sweetened condensed milk on the stove.
  2. Make sure the water fully covers the can by a few inches and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer, after a boil is reached, and let it cook for 2-3 hours on the stove.
  3. Prep remaining ingredients once dulce de leche is done cooking. Dulce de leche will cool while you prep and form the cookies. To a food processor, add flour, cashews, sugars, and salt, and blend until nuts are finely chopped.
  4. Cut cold butter into cubes and gradually pulse into the flour mixture. Once the dough starts to come together, add egg yolk and baker’s extract and pulse until just combined.
  5. Preheat oven to 350°F.
  6. Remove dough from the processor and shape into 20 cookie dough balls and place on a parchment-lined baking. Make sure to leave enough space for cookies to spread after pressing the thumbprint before the second bake.
  7. Bake for 5 minutes, remove, press a thumbprint (or teaspoon) into cookies, and fill with dulce de leche and flake salt. Return to the oven for another 5 minutes or until lightly browned and remove. Let cool for 5-7 minutes to set before removing from the pan.

Tips

  • If you would like a thicker, deeper-flavored dulce de leche, cook for a longer time frame. You can make multiple cans at a time. If kept unopened, it has a 3-month shelf life under refrigeration.
  • Wear heat-proof gloves to press the thumbprint to avoid burning if needed, as the cookie dough will be hot

Note:

This recipe was prepared for Rodelle by Morgan Osborne, part of ADM's culinary team. Photos taken by @edgarmoralesphotography with @gaze.marketing.